Publicity for your book

[dwndrgn]

This is a very interesting portion of the http://www.bookbrowse.com newsletter that I thought might be of interest to you aspiring writers:

<H3>Questions and Answers

My book's been published, now how do I get reviews and sales?

Last week I offered a few suggestions on how to go about writing a book and getting it published. This triggered a number of people to write to me saying that they have a book published but are having trouble getting it reviewed and distributed. Again, I am far from an expert in this area, but here are a few topline suggestions:

• Don't wait until your book is published to think about where you're going to find reviews and sales - some review sources will only review books before they're published, most are only interested in books that have been recently published, so have a plan of attack before you publish.
• Even if you've been published by a big name publisher, don't assume that you can sit back and wait for the royalty checks to come in - find out from the publicity department what they plan to do to promote your book and where you might need to step in to help. The reality is that most publicists are chronically overworked and are going to send out a press release and a bunch of review copies, and that's about it. So unless you know your publisher has put aside a substantial marketing and publicity budget for your book, it's probably best to assume that a lot of the legwork will be up to you.
• Get educated: Read Lissa Warren's 'The Savvy Author's Guide To Book Publicity' (2003, ISBN: 0786712759) cover to cover well before your book is published.
• Get psyched up: The publicity process can be tough on many authors - not only is it a huge time-sink but it also requires you to change hats from the relatively introverted process of writing to the extrovert role of publicity mogul. Some authors are lucky enough to have someone such as a family member who can share the load (a husband or wife can often be a great advocate).
• Make sure you or your publisher have covered the pre-publication review sources. In the USA these are: Booklist, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews. All four are very selective about the types of books they will consider for review and will usually only review books before publication. However, Kirkus Reviews offers a paid review option for books that don't meet the criteria for their main magazine (e.g. self published, PODs, ebooks and books post-publication), which you may wish to consider.
• The following websites may be willing to review your book - MyShelf.com, The Midwest Book Review, Rebecca's Reads and The Bookreporter.
• Use your connections to get reviews - e.g. send a press release and a copy of your book to your local newspaper(s), ask someone in your local bookstore(s) to read and review your book. If your local bookstore likes your book and is a member of BookSense, ask them if they might be willing to submit the book to Booksense. If your book has a particular theme, look for websites that specialize in that area.
• Be cautious about paying for publicity on the web. There are many websites that will take your money but few that will deliver results that will allow you to recoup, let alone profit, from your investment.
• If you wish to submit to BookBrowse please check the submission criteria.
• All the above points deal with getting publicity for your book, in the hope that this will translate into sales. However, to be sold, your book has to be listed. If you're with an established publisher you're probably reasonably safe to leave the distribution up to them, but if you self-publish or use a small or 'on-demand' publisher you need to wrestle with the issue of returns (the ability for bookstores to return unsold copies to the publisher for a refund). The quandary is that returning unsold books can land you or your publisher with additional costs if your book doesn't sell, but the other side of the coin is that many booksellers (both large and small) simply won't put your book on their shelves if your publisher has a no-returns policy.
• ...and I say it again....get educated early: Read Lissa Warren's 'The Savvy Author's Guide To Book Publicity' cover to cover well before you get published, and at least one of the books mentioned in the last 'BookBrowse Recommends' newsletter.

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[Mark Robson]

Thanks, Dwndrgn. I'll be looking out that Savvy Guide very shortly.

[Cimmerian]

Very insightful Dwndrgn. I'm with AuthorHouse Publishing, and my representative suggested to me "You get what you put into it, writing is only part of the deal. If you sit around and do nothing to get people interested in your book, that's all that will happen. Nothing. So get out, and join literary groups, discussion groups, book fairs, anything you can to get some people interested in your book."

[Steve S]

Originally Posted by Cimmerian

Very insightful Dwndrgn. I'm with AuthorHouse Publishing, and my representative suggested to me "You get what you put into it, writing is only part of the deal. If you sit around and do nothing to get people interested in your book, that's all that will happen. Nothing. So get out, and join literary groups, discussion groups, book fairs, anything you can to get some people interested in your book."

I think this is spot on - selling your book is as difficult as writing it but you have to force yourself out there. I tried contacting several regional newspapers and it worked well; there were several features written about the book and as a result I was interviewed on BBC radio this week which is effective publicity. I'm not a natural at selling myself so this is all hard work for me but it does pay in terms of raising awareness of the book.